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A lawsuit filed by a Utah woman — whose neck and vocal cords were severely damaged by metal shrapnel when an "overly volatile" airbag deployed during a car accident — has been dismissed.
Representatives with Motley Rice LLC, the law firm representing Randi Johnston, of Centerville, said this week that a "confidential settlement" had been reached in the case. They declined to give additional details.
Johnston filed the case in November in 3rd District Court against several corporations, including Honda, airbag manufacturer Takata and a local car dealership.
The woman was driving her 2003 Honda Civic to work last September when she was in an accident on Interstate 15, according to a news release from the South Carolina firm who represented her.
When Johnston's airbag deployed, metal shrapnel pierced her face and lodged in her neck, severing her trachea and damaging her vocal cords. An Army medic was at the scene of the accident, and helped treat her until she could receive additional medical treatment.
At the time the lawsuit was filed, Johnston could not speak due to her injuries and her longterm prognosis was unknown.
In the lawsuit, Johnston accused the companies of general negligence, gross negligence, reckless conduct and breach of warranty. She sought an unspecified amount of monetary damages, along with punitive damages to be weighed against the defendants.
Motley Rice LLC has filed a number of similar cases nationwide, including airbag injury cases in Louisiana, Georgia and South Carolina. Local law firm Siegfried and Jensen also was representing Johnston in the case.